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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

In 2009, Stanley Bloom and Mike Ro Wave (great name, by the way), set out to craft a collection of instrumentals alongside a set of unnamed artists and musicians from San Francisco to Brazil and back. They have now released two volumes, with the third and final volume to be released in 2012.

Wax re-teams with DJ Booth for the follow-up to Scrublife, released back in March of this year. Fit with production from EOM and DJ Quickie Mart and rhymes from frequent cohort Dumbfoundead and Gotham Green, this is his first official project since signing to Def Jam earlier in the year.

Last week we brought you Part 1, in which the 'Sipster talked Occupy Wall Street and the recent light shone on his home state. Part 2 takes the talk one step further as Banner reveals what he has in store - from the scoring of music to the study of genres outside of hip-hop.

Last December Sam Champ partnered with Bama Love Soul for one of the best remix projects we have heard, flipping Erykah Badu's Soldier and D'Angelo's Left & Right, to name a few. Now the two have teamed again, double-backing to offer the instrumentals to each track.

Billie Holiday is my muse. Her creative vision and stylistic integrity have influenced both my music and my writing. When I decided to work on this project, I wanted to approach it with respect for her music. I wanted these remixes to be both inspired by and dedicated to the life and craft of one of the most innovative and soulful singers of all time. Each track is designed to represent a significant part of Billie Holiday’s life.

Live from the Control Room is a Bay Area based hip hop production platform created by Quality Control Marketing and pro audio school SAE. The Live from the Control Room series includes a 16 producer beat battle, concert series, a string of music videos, and a professionally produced EP featuring the Bay Area’s top MC’s paired up with the hottest up and coming producers.

The first phase of the series was the 'Live from the Control Room' Producer Battle and concert, which took place this past September. The battle was comprised of 16 up and coming producers from the Bay Area, with the judging panel comprised of four of the top MC’s – A-Plus (Souls of Mischief/Hieroglyphics), Lateef the Truthspeaker (Latyrx/Quannum), Moe Green (iM/Out Crowd), and DaVinci (SWTBRDS/Thorobred). The top 4 producers from the battle then were paired with the four MC’s to record and create an EP and video series.

Stay tuned for brand new videos chronicling the recording of the official 'Live from the Control Room' EP, filmed by the one and only Casual from Hieroglyphics and Roy Miles Jr.. Look out for the EP to be released early 2012, and the final video from the winning tandem of Lambo Gott Em and A-Plus.

Jon Stewart could not have played this one better! This past Monday on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Roots granted Cupcake her best intro yet, playing Lyin' Ass Bitch (by Fishbone) as she took her seat on set. Below is her verbal response to the ingenious antic:

This is an outrage. The point is, if that had been Michelle Obama who had come out on the stage and that song had been played to Michelle Obama, I have no doubt that NBC would have apologized to her. This is clearly a form of bias on the side of the entertainment elite.

Soulwax (aka 2ManyDJs), in addition to their sonic production for others, specialize in mashing and mixing old and new music, oftentimes melding two groups that would likely never be placed in the same room much less in the same mix. Their latest project consists of 24 1-hour sets, featuring albums bearing nude women on the cover, each accompanied by visuals not suitable for work.

Over the past year or so, we have really grown a fondness for GLC's music. Whether behind the boards or behind the mic, he seems to have an innate sense of what he wants to hear, inviting the listener into his melodical state of mind. Eternal Sunshine of the Pimpin' Mind, coming soon.

Welcome to 'Obrigado!', a brazilian inspired beat tape, full of released and unreleased beats of mine that fit in the category of beats coming from minha alma (my soul, for the natively english speaking folks).

This mixtape is my prequel to a long awaited, much anticipated, thoroughly contemplated KC.93/Midnight Kids beat tape, which, still untitled, should be released early spring next year. Until then, take your soul (alma) on a ride and let this be your early reminder that another summer soon comes, and that this is one of many soundtracks to that summer madness...

Don't let the title fool you - it's doubtful that yU would release anything of lesser caliber than what he has already evidenced with projects like Before Taxes. The Mello Music Group beatsmith gives away 23 pieces of his Garbage, leaving no room for question as to whether his upcoming full-length, The Earn, will be worthy of your dime.

Although not every artist is as attentive to fashion as Kanye West, style does make its way into their lives. Sometimes driven by practical purpose, other times by personal expression or as part of performance, fashion plays a role in the aesthetic landscape of many artists. In this episode, we talk with a diverse array of creators about the relationship of style and fashion to their lives and work. Featured artists include the songwriter Yuna from Fader Label, street artist WK Interact, skateboard deck and apparel designers 5boro, painter and toy designer Tara McPherson, and artist Casey Spooner of Fischerspooner.

The Brown Bag All-Star reveals how he, Royce and Marco Polo came to collaborate (the track will be included in this week's Saturday Singles). Be sure to scoop his upcoming full-length, Awaken, December 13th on iTunes.

Presented by Hyundai Veloster, RE:GENERATION is a documentary film that follows DJ Premier, Pretty Lights, The Crystal Method, Mark Ronson, and Skrillex as they remix, recreate and re-imagine five traditional styles of music. Learn more at youtube.com/veloster and regenerationmusicproject.com.

Opting to take the road less travelled, the Rage Against The Machine frontman passes on music and video tributes and instead pens a verse in honor of those protesting for change. You can read the poem in full below:

The beginning spills through city veins into the arteries
And under powers poison clouds
We move like the shadows
Through the alley ways
Through nightmares bought and sold as dreams
Through barren factories
Through boarded schools
Through rotting fields
Through the burning doors of the past
Through imaginations exploding
To break the curfews in our minds
Our actions awaken dreams of actions multiplied
A restless fury
Once buried like burning embers
Left alone to smolder
But together stacked under the walls of a dying order
All sparks are counted
Calloused hands raised in silence
Over the bonfire of hope unincorporated
It's flame restores tomorrows meaning
Across the graveyards of hollow promises
As gold dipped vultures pick at what is left of our denial
And the youngest among us
Stare at us stoned like eyes determined
And say
Death for us may come early
Cause dignity has no price
At the corner of now and nowhere
Anywhere
Everywhere
Tomorrow is calling
Tomorrow is calling

Produced by James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco, the title and the tracks caught our immediate attention. With an ear for older electronica, Victoria Hesketh returns to the days of raves, resurrecting its signature sounds.

During Atlanta's recent A3C Hip Hop Festival (Oct 6-8th), Grooveshark teamed up with the legendary Stankonia Studios and the production teams SMKA and Royal Flush to create an exclusive mixtape. The project features original songs from artists playing the festival as well as some hometown heroes, and will be available November 16 to stream for free exclusively on Grooveshark. The tracks will be accompanied by several behind the scenes videos featuring the artists and production teams creating the songs from start to finish. Artists who participated in the project include 9th Wonder, Killer Mike, Ying Yang Twins, Freeway, Aleon Craft, Fashawn, Thurzday, Rapsody, and many more. In addition, exclusive BTS videos will be released from 'Stankonia Sessions'. There was a video production crew filming all 3 days capturing behind the scenes footage of the recording process.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Chuuwee aligns with DJ Booth, Amalgam Digital,and Fly Society for his latest release, complete with production from Goldenchild and Freddie Joachim (two of our personal favorites). If you aren't familiar with the Sac emcees catalog, take some time out to do so. His range and versatility puts him in a class by himself.

Switching gears from one sick sound to the next, the French truly have a penchant for the remix. Following a path similar to LëKaR, Da Soundboy Killah Passpass (say that fast five times) picks up where the original artists left off, adding just a touch of something extra to the already amazing originals.

French producer LëKaR has put together a cohesive collection of remixes, flipping tracks like Classic (M.E.D. and Kweli), Vomitspit (MF Doom), and The Ten Crack Commandments (Biggie), in addition to several others. Don't sleep - this is undoubtedly one of the best projects of the year.

Mick Boogie's ode to the original shelltoe rockers arrives just in time for the 25th anniversary of Raising Hell. Scoop a copy of the mix below, and don't miss DMC's interview with MTV News, in which he explains how My Adidas came to be.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Diz took his time with this one. Following the acclaim of Soon You'll Understand, the artist set out to create the follow-up, but asked fans to be patient as he was not going to rush. The finished product is well-worth the wait, though, and we have to second his remark that sometimes you gotta go away to make a comeback.

Having heard City Lights (Volume 2): Shibuya, we undoubtedly ska-daddled to the download button once we spotted the Shibuya Sessions. Remixed with The Hot At Nights, Nicolay revisits selections from the album, re-arranging the instrumental compositions to bring new life to the sound. Fan or not, this is a great addition to every collection.

Just hours shy of his passing, we spotted what seemed to be a random interview with Tim Westwood in which Heavy D discussed his production for the likes of Hov, and also touched on the making of T.R.O.Y. alongside Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth. Most of the up-and-comers will probably laugh this off, but those that know cannot underscore his significance to the industry. Rest In Power Heavy D.

We liken ArtOfficial to the Fat Freddy's Drop of Miami. The collective blends the best of jazz, soul, and hip-hop into a cohesive collection featuring Wrekonize and Miami Symphonic Strings, among others.

In all honesty what attracted us to this project was its production prowess , but after hearing the album front-to-back, Torae has won two more fans. Built on production from some of the greatest in the game, including Pete Rock, 9th Wonder, !llmind, Nottz, and of course, DJ Premier, Torae diversifies his dialect to suit the drums, and the result is a tape that looks and sounds like this music should.